How we won. The phenomenon and winning spirit of “Ararat-73” (video)

Suren Baghdasaryan's “Ararat 73: The Golden Age of the Armenian Football” is not only about the historical game but also about the events that happened before and after it. How did Ararat become the winner and champion of the USSR? The main answer is on the very first page of the book. Baghdasaryan quotes the words of the team's legendary captain Hovhannes Zanazanyan: “For three years, Ararat was in the center of everyone's attention, but its rise was prepared much earlier”. The head coach Nikita Simonyan was often asked the same question: was the victory a coincidence or a pattern?

Nikita Simonyan, head coach of “Ararat 73”. “You can win one prize by chance - the USSR Cup. But it is impossible to win the championship accidentally, especially when they are together. However, I know that there are some silent conversations about randomness. I think it is a consequence of old ideas about "Ararat". For many years, that club was considered either a mediocre team or a rearguard in our football”.

Many said that Simonian had inherited a ready-made team, so making it a champion was not difficult. According to Suren Baghdasaryan, “Ararat-73” began to be “outlined” 8 years before the historic victory: “Ararat, led by Artyom Falyan, begins to recruit the core of the championship team”. Alexander Ponomarev increased the training load - athleticism and endurance of football players. Then there was Nikolai Glebov. During Glebov's tenure, “Ararat” won the 2nd place. In 1973 Nikita Simonyan started coaching the Yerevan team.

“I didn't have to remove unnecessary things or add new ones. Previous coaches have done it. In working with the team, I paid special attention to the psychological stability of the boys. And I gave great importance to the spectacle of football, the beautiful game, the football that the audience likes. I've always told the boys: winning is not enough; you have to play nicely and have fun”.

Nikita Simonyan made great efforts to make the team stronger. After the defeats, the team was no longer broken, it continued to fight. The defense was strengthened, Simonyan emphasizes. “For Ararat, the most important thing I had to pay attention to was psychological stability. I tried to add what was there: technique, speed, athleticism, constant movement, passion, will, game and domestic iron discipline, purposefulness, belief in victory, and finally, spectacle. We are all in favor of results, but real football cannot be imagined without spectacle and romanticism”.

In 1971 “Dynamo” of Kyiv and “Ararat” were equal teams, occupying the 1st and 2nd places. But “Dynamo” had an advantage over all competitors, including “Ararat” at that time. Suren Baghdasaryan describes in detail how “Ararat” finally achieved the historical victory.

“None of the cup games have had such a dramatic course... What is important about winning? At that time Dinamo was, in fact, the USSR national team. Most players were in the team itself. That's why this game was so important. In the first half of the historic game, Dynamo had a clear advantage. Everything changed with the penalty. One of the players was slightly hit on the shoulder. At the right time, Simonyan put two energetic football players on the field. He knew that they would change the course of the game. They went in and changed the game. When Ishtoyan scored the goal, the advantage went to our side”.

Before overtime, the head coach said in the locker room: it's today or never. In the second half, the advantage was already on the side of “Ararat”, and in the end, they won.